Soccer team splits tough road games

The women’s soccer team traveled to Natchitoches, La. and Nacogdoches over the weekend to face some of the toughest competition they have matched with this season.

The Wildcats took on the Lady Demons of Northwestern State University Oct. 11 in Natchitoches, La. The ‘Cats came back from their loss against Oral Roberts, with a 1-0 defeat against NWSU.

Natalie Thorneberry scored the single goal for ACU, leading to her fifth goal of the season.

While the the Wildcats were playing at the top of their game, the Lady Demon’s struggled to keep a clean slate, as their defender Jackie Strug was issued a yellow card in the first half.

Furthering the struggle, midfileder Chelsea Schaefer also received a yellow card in the second half.

Northwestern racked up a total of 11 fouls by the end of the match, while ACU had only five.

Freshman Goalkeeper Kelsey Dombrowski continued to shine as she saved eight of 10 attempted goal shots.

“There is no time to think about where that person might be shooting. When the other team has the ball I communicate with my teammates where they need to be,” Dombrowski said. “Every shot is a reaction. I don’t think to dive, I just do it.”

Northwestern is now 3-3-1 and ranked No. 6 in the Southland Conference, with 5-8-1 overall in the season.

Sunday, though, the Wildcats couldn’t maintain their winning pace. They fell 0-2 to Stephen F. Austin State University, putting ACU in the No. 4 position in the conference with 11-3-1 overall in the season.

Dombrowski had five goal saves within the first half and gained her sixth of the match in the second half. She now totals 39 saves this season.

The Ladyjacks’ defense was strong, keeping the ‘Cats from getting their ten goal attempts through.

SFASU held on to their top spot at No. 2 and 6-1-0 in the conference, with 11-2-1 overall this season.

“We played well against Stephen F. Austin, they were just a step better. They capitalized on mistakes we made and were, all around, very fit and physical,” Thorneberry said. “Their formation was very hard to defend, but we handled it the best we could.”

This week, the Wildcats return home to match in their last home games of the season.

Friday, the team will host No. 12 Texas A&M Corpus Christi at the Wildcat Soccer Pitch at 4 p.m.

To end Homecoming week, the ‘Cats with face off against University of the Incarnate Word, ranked No. 10 in the conference, at 1 p.m. on Sunday.